Osteoarthritis Treatment Market – Trends and Opportunities 2017–2025

Osteoarthritis also known as degenerative arthritis is the most commonly occurred chronic condition that affects joints, especially those in the knees, neck, and lower back. Osteoarthritis leads to severe joint pain and stiffness of the affected body part. These symptoms may occur in the initial stages following some physical exercise, however, persists long after the activity. Several other symptoms of osteoarthritis include decreased range of motion, joint swelling as well as numbness of the legs and arms. This numbness is mostly found in the end joints of the fingers, neck, and lower back as well as base of the thumb, hips, and knees. The progression of osteoarthritis results in movement patterns and can ultimately result in joint effusion, usually in the knees. Osteoarthritis can be treated by several treatments, which include exercise for reducing joint pain, pain medications, and support groups. Pain medication includes drugs such as paracetamol, naproxen, and ibuprofen. Joint replacement is opted in cases of severe pain that results in interference with the regular activities.

Osteoarthritis as one of the most prevalent chronic diseases across the globe

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2016, reveals that there are over 100 types of arthritis and the most common form is osteoarthritis. Arthritis affected around 54.4 million adults in the U.S. during 2013- 2015. According to the Arthritis Foundation, 2014, over US$ 156 billion are dedicated annually in lost wages and medical expenses towards treatment of arthritis. Moreover, Barbour 2017 states that arthritis affects 1 in every 4 adults in U.S. The Arthritis Foundation also reveals that out of the 54.4 million arthritic patients in the U.S., around 30.8 million suffered from osteoarthritis, in 2015. These key stats provide direct growth opportunities to the key players involved in the global osteoarthritis treatment market.

Asian countries involved in innovation of novel therapies and drugs for treatment of osteoarthritis

Based on the regional segmentation, the global osteoarthritis treatment market is segmented into North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East, and Africa. North America holds the largest share of the global osteoarthritis treatment market, owing to the high prevalence rate of arthritis in the region. The growing obese population in this region is also responsible for accelerating demand for the osteoarthritis treatment, in turn boosting the market growth. Europe holds the second largest share of market after North America, owing to expansion of healthcare budget to many folds and significant outcomes of the R&D sector. For example, a European study conducted in May, 2017, developed an application of Chondroitin sulfate as an anti- inflammatory drug to help treat osteoarthritis of the knee.

Asia Pacific is expected to be the fastest growing market attributed to developments in the healthcare facilities and establishment of new health care centers for orthopedic treatment and care in countries such as China, Japan, and India.. For instance, the make-in-India project launched its first bone treatment cell therapy products, Ossron and Chondron in June 2017. Moreover, the synvisc fluid filling procedure offering innovative regenerative cell treatment, was developed by the make-in-India initiative is expected to help combat knee and hip pain to over 60 million people suffering from osteoarthritis, in India.

The emergence of new and cost effective medications for the treatment of osteoarthritis is the major growth driver of the global osteoarthritis treatment market. The Tanezumab, a drug jointly developed by Pfizer and Eli Lily, 2017, used for the chronic lower back pain relief in osteoarthritis, is awaiting FDA approval, which is expected to help millions of people. Obesity, increasing number of orthopedic injuries, crystal deposition, old age, joint injury, increasing number of pipeline drugs, and rising awareness among people are few other factors responsible for driving growth of the global osteoarthritis treatment market. However, less adoption of osteoarthritis treatment and side effects associated with of these treatments are expected to hinder the growth of the global osteoarthritis treatment market.

The key players are focusing on R&D to establish their presence in the global osteoarthritis treatment market

The key players operating the global osteoarthritis market are Johnson & Johnson Ltd., Abbott Laboratories, Pfizer, Inc., Novartis AG, Eli Lily and Co., Abiogen Pharma, Ampio Pharmaceuticals, Halyard Health, and BioDelivery Sciences International, Inc. The companies are involved in introducing new and innovative products for the osteoarthritis treatment to increase sales in the global market. For instance, the Halyard Health introduced the first cooled radiofrequency (RF), minimally invasive needles, and water cooled electrodes that are specifically used to alleviate chronic knee pain in osteoarthritis.

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